Movies I’ll Never Make

THE DRIVE-INS

Movies I’ll Never Make is comprised of two separate series of color and monochromatic photographs.

In the first series, individual photographs of run-down or abandoned drive-in movie theatres, once surrounded by cars and people, now stand alone and unprotected, often in harsh sunlight. A kind of entertainment dinosaur, the blank outdoor movie screen serves as a window onto an era long before that of the videocassette and DVD as well a mirror onto which dreams of glamour and romance encounter intimations of mortality.

The second series consists of aggregated groups of photographs (usually three or more) creating a single piece. Out of these “storyboards,” featuring drastic shifts in viewpoint and scale, curious narratives emerge –ambiguous, dramatic and written and directed by the viewer.

In the largest aggregated work, “Betaville Blondes,” 12 photographs juxtapose nighttime images of carousing women in platinum blonde wigs with daytime scenes of California bungalow homes, a few with classic automobiles parked outside. While the women’s hectic tawdriness contrasts sharply with the static quiet of the house portraits, the overall effect is that of emptiness and alienation.

Skyline Drive-in installation at Robert Walters exhibit, NYC – 2008